


Believe

by Leni



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-29
Updated: 2016-11-29
Packaged: 2018-09-03 00:51:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8690209
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leni/pseuds/Leni
Summary: Rumpelstiltskin finds a way to bring Belle back. Maybe.





	

Lacey stumbled a little as the hard floor under her heels became grass and dirt. For a second she floundered, but a hand at her elbow helped her keep her balance and not disgrace herself with a tumble on the ground. "Thanks, Rumple," she said feelingly, righting herself again.

Then she blinked.

She had grown used to magic transporting her to the finest restaurants in their town, or some secluded spot with an amazing view over Storybrooke or the sea. There were times she'd demanded to be taken to a more comfortable spot than the back of Rumpelstiltskin's shop, and where she'd make clear that she was too impatient to wait until he drove her to his home.

Magic made life easier, she'd discovered.

Which did not explain why it had brought them to the middle of the forest this time.

"What's this?" she asked Rumpelstiltskin.

He turned to her with a smirk. "Not this, dearie. You mean _that_ ," he said, and pointed with his cane to something behind her. 

Lacey spun around. Frowned. "A well?"

"A wishing well," Rumpelstiltskin clarified, his left hand now at her back, guiding her closer to the stone structure. "I know you don't remember, but we've been here before."

She couldn't stop a sigh. "Is this about my lost memories again? What are we going to do, wish them back?" She tried to infuse the words with all the scorn she could muster, holding tight to the knowledge that it had been weeks since Rumpelstiltskin had made an attempt to restore her memories. "I don't think that's gonna work, love," she whispered, leaning over to croon in his ear. "You're stuck with me."

Rumpelstiltskin chuckled. "And I'd be blessed with that," he told her, bringing them to a stop,

Lacey couldn't hear any sarcasm in his words, and was shocked by the realization. She'd thought she knew her worth to him. The body of his ex, married to a more open-minded disposition. He should be glad to be able to keep her, of course, but his words had sounded as if he wanted to keep her forever.

And one thing Lacey knew about Rumpelstiltskin was that he wanted his true love back.

"You don't mean that," she scoffed.

He shrugged one shoulder. "Why wouldn't I? You're beautiful, and you know it." When his hand reached for her, she allowed the touch, letting his fingers cradle her jaw for a moment before they drifted longingly down her neck. "You're smart, too, and you cannot think of wanting something and not fighting for it."

Lacey grinned. "I like that description. Keep going, handsome."

Rumpelstiltskin tapped her nose in mock anger at the interruption, but he also seemed to draw himself higher at the compliment. Men were so easy. He smiled knowingly, as if reading her thoughts, and then continued, "You make me laugh, Lacey; often when I shouldn't. You force me to look at things your way, and make demands no one else would dare voice." 

His lips pulled into a smile, and those dark eyes softened for a second before they brightened with something Lacey recognized as hunger. 

"You live for the joy of living, and you place your love wherever your heart points you to, no regrets. You see no reason to apologize for your feelings, no matter where they lead you..." He had stepped up closer with each word, until the last syllable blended into a whisper against her lips. "...not even when they lead you to me."

Lacey grabbed his shoulders and pulled him in, closing the distance between their mouths. He was right, the damned man. She could get rid of him as easily as she could part with her toes or her eyelashes. Apparently insignificant, the fact that it felt important to stay at his side, but as much a part of her as her own heart.

She bit his lower lip at the realization, and growled in displeasure when he laughed in response.

"I'm trying to tell you that I love you, you silly girl," he said with a chuckle.

Lacey shivered. "You love Belle," she bit out, pushing him away.

He wavered for a second, casting for his cane for balance. But soon he stood in a firm stance, looking her in the eye. "Yes, I do."

"Don't you dare play your games with me, Rumpelstiltskin."

His free hand rose in a silent claim of innocence. "No games, I promise. Don't you see? You _are_ the annoying prank that bitch played on me. But Regina still needed a template. Just like anyone under the curse - you're not made from scratch, dearie. So it follows you're also the woman I fell in love with."

Lacey sneered. "I'm nothing like her!"

"Oh yes," Rumpelstiltskin insisted. "You're just as stubborn. Just as blind to any truth that doesn't accommodate your vision of the world. Tell me you're not selfish, Lacey. Tell me you wouldn't leave this life in a second if someone came to offer you a chance for adventure."

"That's not-"

He ignored her. "But I came, Lace. And I offered. Remember or not, you couldn't jump fast enough at accepting my deal."

"I'm not a hero!" she shouted.

In the silence left behind, they stared at each other.

In the end, it was Rumpelstiltskin who reacted first. With a shrug. "Well, yes. Much as she tried, Belle wasn't much of one either. Fell in love with me, didn't she?"

"Then she was a saint," Lacey snapped back, stung for some reason at his cold assessment of her former self.

"No," he said calmly. "And neither are you a sinner."

That almost made her rear back. For weeks after she'd woken up in the hospital, people kept reminding her of everything she had been as Belle. Belle had been sweet. Belle had been forgiving. Belle had been a ray of sunshine, the perfect fairytale beauty - and had gotten herself landed in the hospital with no memories and a vengeful witch at her bedside for her trouble.

Why would she want to be Belle again?

"Whatever. I'm what you got," she told Rumpelstiltskin, setting her jaw in defiance.

"And you're already more than I deserve." He sounded so sincere. He took one of her hands, lifting it to his lips. "But don't you want to be the real you?" he asked softly, not letting go when she tugged her hand away. His voice gained strength as he continued, always holding onto her. "I miss you. I miss you so much. I miss the woman who fought for what she believed... and won." His lips quirked into a smile. "Like this you let me get away with too much, my love."

"I'm not her!"

Rumpelstiltskin glared at her. "Then prove it," he purred. A wave of his hand, and the teacup that had haunted her for months came to hover between them. 

Lacey scowled at it. "You bastard," she hissed, aware that he'd been pushing her into a challenge she couldn't back down from. "What the hell is this?"

"Water from Lake Nostos, where all lost things are found again-" as he spoke, he directed a thin stream of water out of the mouth of the well and into the teacup "-drunk at the same spot where magic first touched you in this world, next to the person who called up that magic."

A fine list of ingredients. Certainly different from the usual potions he'd presented to her.

"What makes you think it will work this time, Rumple?"

"Because I'm telling you the truth." His voice was even, no theatrics this time. "Lacey is nothing but a plaything Regina shoved at me to keep me distracted, and even if I were strong enough to let you go again, Lacey will always be a construction. A fake. And sooner or late the queen will use you again." He looked her in the eye. "You deserve better than to be a chew toy we fight over."

"Then stop fighting," she rallied, but knew it was an useless plea. "Why must I be the one to go?"

"You won't be going anywhere, dearest. You'll just remember who you are."

 _But I already know,_ she thought, barely keeping herself from saying it out loud. He wasn't listening. He claimed that she was blind, but then he was deaf to other people's opinion if they didn't agree with him.

Heaving a long sigh, Lacey eyed the floating cup. For a moment it crossed her mind to grab the teacup and smash it against the ground. Or even better, to toss it into the well.

See if Rumpelstiltskin cared enough for his little keepsake to dive in behind it. It irked her to know that he would only need to literally move a finger, and the teacup would be back in his hands, chip and all.

"It won't work," she told him.

"I believe it will."

"Because you want it to?"

He shook his head. "In our world, the secret of the lake was that one had to come questing on their own. So, no. Not because of what I want. This isn't a potion I created, or a spell I can control. This has to be you, love. If _you_ believe..."

"If I don't want to be a plaything, you mean?"

"Exactly."

Lacey thought of the last weeks, how everybody looked through her as if searching for someone else hidden beneath her skin. Only Rumpelstiltskin had found something to love in her, and those were the traits he claimed had always been part of her. "I choose who to be," she reminded him.

"Then choose," he said easily. "Because right now it is Regina who has decided your role."

Something deep within Lacey rebelled at that thought.

Let it not be said that she had been afraid to try.

Before she could regret it, she grabbed the cup, holding Rumpelstiltskin's gaze as she downed the contents. His eyes widened in expectation, so she closed her own so as not to see the disappointment that would come next.

A heartbeat.

Another.

And when she opened her eyes, tears sprung to her eyes. "Rumple..."

"Belle?"

A single nod.

That was all Rumpelstiltskin needed to envelop her in his arms. "Oh Belle," he cried, clinging to her as hard as she clung to him. "I've missed you so much."

"I know," Belle said. In a fashion, she had been there to witness his grief. "I know."

Rumpelstiltskin gave her a watery smile. "Yes, of course. Silly me." He laughed softly. "You never really left."

 

The End  
29/11/16

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are love. *points at comment box*


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